Something to Hold
by Blaze the Horizon
Summary: Burning old relationships and kindling new ones on the apocalyptic Earth as they are forced into the deadly Game, where supernatural powers are gained that might be the only key to their survival. Chapter 8 is up!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mai or Joey from Yu-Gi-Oh, even though I wish I did, I don't. So don't sue me. . And I dun own the song either. Fuel does. **

**Also: I know I don't have the entire song in here. I'm doing it sections at a time, so the parts are going to be a bit mixed up. That's okay though, cause it works. **

**Something to Hold**

Summary

_There are times when you should set a person free, they say. If you love them, let them go._

_Or you can hold on and refuse to let go-ever. _

_**Sometimes, when she lies and says she isn't hurt, isn't afraid, what she really wants is for someone to look her in the eyes and say, "Tell the truth."**_

_**Like he did.**_

**She calls me from the cold**

**Just when I was low, feeling short of stable**

She ran. In the pouring, freezing cold rain, she ran as though her life depended on it; and it did, to tell the honest-to-God truth. She had no idea where she was going. Hell, she didn't even care so long as it was away from _it_. The rain fell steadily around her as the curvaceous blonde escaped the horrid alleyway and made her way up the street. But she knew her fever and fatigue would overcome her soon. She needed help. That thing was going to catch up to her-it was inevitable-but where to turn? Who could she go to? The woman's ankle suddenly twisted at a strange angle as she was running and made her trip. She crawled to the corner of the alley, trying hard not to make any noise despite her pain. She couldn't go on anymore. Whatever the creature was, she was surely an easy target for it now…

Joey, a young man of about 19 was slowly making his way up the street, when he heard a noise. It sounded like a woman crying, or trying not to cry. 'It sounds really familiar for some reason,' he thought. He walked in the direction of the whimpering to find a woman with long blonde hair and short violet skirt lying against the wall of the alleyway. "_Mai!_" He gazed down at the female, who was only half conscious and making noises of pain in her confused state. She wasn't even wearing her lilac vest, and it was a chilling 28 degrees outside. Not to mention raining and sleeting just a bit too.

Although Joey was now used to the New York weather after having lived there for almost two years, he had a feeling Mai wasn't handling it as well as he was. Joey took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Then he noticed her foot was twisted in a grotesque way. There was no way she could walk. "Mai, can you hear me? Mai." She groaned and tried to look at him, but her exhaustion won over. All of a sudden he saw that her face was flushed pink. 'God, she's on fire. What's she doin' out here in the dead of winter? Poor Mai…' Joey thought as he touched her face. Then he spoke aloud. "C'mon, Mai. Let's get you back to my place, okay?" He very gently lifted her into his arms-careful of her ankle- and carried her down the street.

About a half-mile later he came to a stop at an apartment complex. Thank goodness for him, his was on the ground level. Joey wasn't sure if he could have made it up the stairs with Mai. She wasn't particularly heavy but she was dead weight and that made carrying her a bit difficult. He'd left the door open, and pushed with his shoulder to get inside. Joey belatedly remembered that there was no way he could get through the junk in the guest room to put her on the bed, so after a second's hesitation, he carried her to his own room and laid her down gently. He was about to get the first-aid kit when he saw her face, almost angelic and her cheeks a shade of soft pink, even if it was from her fever. And her features looked soft too, not harsh and unrelenting as when she was awake. Overcome with emotion, Joey suddenly reached out and caressed her cheek, amazed at how hot she was, then swallowed hard and drew his hand away quickly.

'What the heck happened ta her?' Joey wondered at the way Mai looked so fragile. The only time he'd ever seen her like this was almost two years ago during her Shadow Realm ordeal. He began cleaning a cut along her jaw and heard her whimper as he applied the disinfectant. Without thinking, he impulsively put his hand on the side of her neck. She seemed to relax once more at the touch of his fingers. After that, he took a washcloth and wiped her cuts and across her forehead to cool her down a bit. Thankfully, her ankle had only sprained, not broken, but she would feel it without a doubt in the morning.

Joey saw the way her clothes were clinging to her skin from the rain. 'Oh, shit. I can't leave her all wet like this. She'll get even worse.' He hesitantly untied her camisole, revealing a lavender lace bra that he had to force himself not to stare at. It wasn't right to take advantage of her while she was vulnerable, he knew that, but God she was…perfect. Blushing, he removed her skirt as well which gave away to a matching pair of boy -shorts. Her undergarments weren't wet, luckily enough. He took a towel and dried her as best her could. For the first time, he was able to look almost fully upon her; her legs, hips, hair, breasts, at all of her fascinating curves; and her face, free of makeup and as soft as velvet.

Joey felt the strongest urge to caress her, to feel her silken skin beneath his hand. She was more perfect than he could have known; much more beautiful than he could ever have imagined. He traced his finger down the middle of her back, watching as she arched against him like a starved kitten, sighing a little at his caress. Then, with some effort, he tore his gaze away from her and covered her as he went away to put her clothes in the dryer.

Soon, he cleaned up the first-aid kit, got himself a glass of water, and then came back to sit with Mai. He shook her softly. "Mai? It's Joey. Do you know where you are?" Her eyes fluttered a bit and then she gazed up at him with such a pained look that it made him ache for her. "Joey…?" She whispered, exhausted and obviously not aware of how she'd gotten there, so he shushed her as he moved hair back from her forehead. "It's alright, Mai. You're gonna be fine." He said as he looked around and realized he didn't have anywhere to sleep. The couch (actually it was a love seat) was too small for someone like him. His eyes turned back on the woman in his bed. Maybe he should stay with her. Besides, she might wake up and wonder where she was…

Quietly he sat down on the other side of the bed. He was so tired that he automatically took his t-shirt off- as he did every night- without realizing it. He checked his clock: 1:30am. Joey gazed at Mai for a second longer. Then, with a sigh, his head hit the pillow beside her and he fell into a deep slumber.

Mai thrashed about in her sleep. Sweat poured from every inch of her skin and she was still so cold she could hardly stand it. But it was more than that. She moaned and gave small cries of pain that couldn't seem to be controlled. Her nightmare was terrifying; she couldn't escape the creature that haunted her any longer...

"_Oh God, somebody, anyone, please help me! Joey, make it stop, please! Somebody save me." Mai was in panic. She couldn't run anymore, her legs refused to move. She knew that the beast would find her this time. That thing that had chased her before was suddenly on her heels again…only this time, it was taking over her dreams. And nothing and no one could rescue her from it. She screamed aloud, tears streaming down her face, and begged one last time for her savior; for him. "Please, help me. Joey…!" _

"Mai! Mai, c'mon wake up!" Joey shook her desperately, trying to wake her from the feverish dream. When she finally moaned and opened her eyes slightly, he looked at her, relief and concern mixed in his eyes. "Mai? Are you alright? What happened?" Joey asked her. "Joey?" She whispered weakly, then "That…th-that monster was chasing me again! It was going to kill me! And I called but you never came and- I-I," she was trembling as she spoke and suddenly she broke down into small sobs. Mai's shoulders shook tremendously at the effort of holding her tears back. She didn't want to be seen like this, so weak and helpless looking, but her tears seemed to have a mind of their own. She shook with self-disgust and fear and most of all…need. The feminine desire to be held and comforted was nearly overwhelming to her. So much so that she collapsed into his arms.

Joey pulled her to him instinctively as he wrapped his arms around her to make her feel safer. "Shhh. It's over now Mai. It's not real. I won't let anything hurt you. Don't worry, you're safe now. I promise." But that made her sob all the more harder. She clung to his shoulders as if he were her only lifeline while he rocked her in order to soothe her again. After a while, Joey noticed Mai had stopped weeping and was now resting her head on his chest. He took a strand of her hair and absent-mindedly twirled it around his finger. Then it hit him at just how intimately she rested against him, but at the same moment, it felt more right than anything in the world to him. Mai spoke after a moment or two. "Joey?" She lifted her head to meet his face and he could see she was fighting sleep. "Yeah?" "Will you stay with me, please? I need you."

Her voice sounded so tender and vulnerable and ridden with the haze of her fever. And remorse. How could he say no when she was so in need of protection and comforting? He didn't care anymore about what she'd done to him, not one bit. He'd forgiven her for taking his soul the second she held him in her arms. There was no question he'd forgive her, but could he forget? Maybe he could, maybe not. Though sometimes, he knew, forgetting wasn't always the best thing to do. Forgetting your mistakes is the best way to make them again. And he sure as hell didn't want to make a mistake like that a second time.

**And can I be a friend**

**We'll forget the past**

**But maybe I'm not able **

Without saying a word, Joey lay down with Mai's head resting against him. He turned over sideways so that he was facing her and brought his arms around her slender frame as she put her face into his warm neck. For the first time, he found that he was larger than her by a good bit now; at least a few inches taller and a few pounds heavier, though she remained the same. She was still shaking slightly from fear and sickness, so he stroked her hair some more.

Joey realized something just in that moment: He'd never once held her, or even touched her in any way other than a friend would for that matter, until tonight. And there wasn't a trace of awkwardness in either of them; it was simply a woman who needed protection- that _somebody _out there cared for her, wanted her, and maybe, just _maybe_ even loved her. Thoughts raced through Joeys head- of holding her like this every night; touching her, watching as she surrendered beneath him, soft and warm; and knowing she was his forever. His eyes filled with tears as he kissed the top of her head ever so slightly, catching a whiff of her shampoo, and breathed those three little words he'd wanted to say to her for almost three years now. "I love you."

Mai snuggled in even closer; her little body desperately needing the heat and reassurance of his skin against hers. She hadn't even realized that she was lying in her underwear. She probably wouldn't have cared any way. She was safe now; nothing in the world could harm her, she knew. And the last thought she entertained in her mind before falling into the blissful realm of unconsciousness was how his smell, masculine and so _right_ to her- how that alone could make her happy; and how his arms felt around her.

'He feels safe; feels like home. I'm actually _home _now…'

**(Note: Awww. Ain't that sweet? Yeah, yeah, I know Mai would probably not do that but she's really out of it, remember. Anywho, please R 'n R.)**

**(Note2: For all those reading my fic 'Capsized', expect a new chappie soon. Hopefully with some T/Y or T/S or something not J/M XDD 'cause I promised y'all I would.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**As requested, here is an update. No, I don't have a clue where this story is going. The idea came in a dream (cliché) and now I don't remember what I'm supposed to be doing with it. BUT to make up for it, there is lots of angsty fluff in this chapter. SO THERE. Mai 'n Joey are going to need each other, so their relationship gets a kick-start here. **

**I used **_**parts**_** of the song "Shimmer"- © Fuel as line-breaks, just as in the previous chap, but I'll take them out if deemed necessary. **

**Yugioh is © Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own it. **

**Pt. II **

He awoke to the feeling of dampness on his chest. Joey's eyes opened to see Mai, who was laying half on top of him and nearly drenched in sweat. Her fever must have broken last night, he realized. Carefully, so as not to wake her, he slid out from under her, while she moaned softly in protest. He moved her over to his side of the bed, because the sheet beneath her was soaked. Now was as good a time as any to get up, he figured. And he was starving. Time for breakfast…

_**she dreams a champagne dream.**_

Mai had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. Her head felt fuzzy. _Have I been drinking?_ With some effort, she managed to sit up in bed-and let out a shriek of anger and bewilderment. She was dressed in nothing but her bra and panties. "Oh God, _no_…please don't tell me I…"She moaned. Footsteps ensued seconds later and Joey appeared in the doorway. She looked at him standing there and froze. Instinctively, Mai pulled the sheet up to her chest. In a flash, the events of the fortnight came back to her.

He noticed her stunned expression. "Are you okay, Mai?" She gaped at him a while longer before nodding her head somewhat mechanically. It took her longer still to find her voice. "Where, I mean, how did you find me?"

_**.strawberry surprise, pink linen white paper.**_

Once he discovered she wasn't going to have a panic attack, Joey walked over to the bed and sat down. Mai drew the sheet closer around her and shrank back a little. "I was walking home and I heard you crying. You were lying there with your ankle all twisted, so I carried you here. You had a fever and you were soaking wet, so that's why I had to…y'know." Joey's face turned the color of a cherry, and a bit of pink appeared on Mai's as well-reminding Joey of the way she'd looked last night. "I'm sorry if I made you feel violated or anything. I just didn't want you to get worse."

_**.fields of butterflies reality escapes her.**_

"It's alright. I'm just glad I wasn't drunk or whatever." Mai sat up and put her feet on the floor. When she tried to stand up, however, she found her ankle giving away and swayed from dizziness. Joey was at her side in an instant to steady her. "Oow! You couldn't have told me my ankle was still injured?!"

He looked at her, apology and concern written on his features. "Sorry. And I guess this isn't a good time for me to tell you that your clothes aren't dry either."

"Well then what the hell am I supposed to wear?" Mai was angry. This _idiot_ expect for her to go around wearing nothing? Mai wasn't about to strut around in her underwear, simply for his perverted enjoyment. She watched him walk to his dresser and pull out a t-shirt. "Here," he said as he tossed it to her.

"If you think for one second I'm going to wear that _rag _you so stupidly call a shirt, you must be-" He whipped around and pushed her roughly to the bed. His hands came down on either of her shoulders, pinning her down tightly but with gentle precision so as not to hurt her.

"I'm what? A moron, a knucklehead, a loser? I can't believe you're still this way, even after I rescued your ass when you were outside in sleet and snow with no chance of surviving!" His amber eyes took on a fiery gleam of malice. It was the first time Mai had ever seen a look like that directed at her. Her self-preservationist instinct kicked in. She tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck in feigned vulnerability. Joey would never know that it wasn't surrender.

._**she says that love is for fools that fall behind.**_

Mai whispered, breathy, and caressed his cheek with her hand. "You're right. I shouldn't be treating you this way." She watched the dark anger in his eyes mitigate into tender uncertainty, his hands loosening from her shoulders. "I've never thanked you for anything you've done for me. So, thank you-"Joey moved off of her. _Bingo. _"For letting go of me," she finished, and then swept her legs beneath her, away from him. The shift seemed demure to Joey; nothing like the Mai he knew.

He clenched his hands. He should have known that all her confessions, all her tenderness had been a ploy to get away from him. What a conniving woman! Joey wouldn't go after her again. Instead, the blond crossed to the other side of the bed with a sigh of defeat.

"Mai, what is so hard about letting some emotion show? A pretense only works for so long." Joey moved his hand to hers. Mai gasped as he danced his fingers across her wrist but she didn't pull away. She was too riveted by the tenderness she found in his gaze to think of anything but that. "Just be honest with me, for once. You don't know me very well if you think I'd ever harm you."

"Fine. Thank you for making promises you couldn't keep," his expression changed to hurt, but Mai had no choice but to go on, "Thank you for being too much of a coward to tell me I was _your friend._"

"Mai, I-"He felt a finger press against his lips to silence him.

_**.and i'm somewhere between.**_

She grimaced and continued, "_Thank you_ for making me believe we had an exquisite bond, and that you would rescue me from danger and then never coming." Joey came closer, hoping (and, yes, foolishly daring) to wipe away the tears he saw cascading down her cheeks. Mai choked on words, speaking in a ragged half-whisper. "Thank you for being enough of a knucklehead to get yourself killed for me."

Joey braced himself with one hand, rubbing her forearm gently with the other. His eyes never left Mai's face. His heart broke into pieces when she smiled at him for the first time in years. _She was so close._ Limbs moved of their own accord to press gentle fingers to her neck, to tilt her face like they had another lifetime ago.

_**.i never really know a killer from a savior.**_

"Joey…Thank you for being the only real friend I've ever had; for showing me a world filled with something more than gold and riches" Mai trembled from the feel of him so near to her. Another shaky breath, and words that would bind them together for eternity followed, "for giving me something to hold on to…even when I had lost hope and didn't deserve it, never deserved someone as _beautiful_ as you were-

_**.'til i break at the bend.**_

Words did not fall from her lips any longer, they could not possibly have; they had no way out. Because his mouth was pressing with a reckless tenderness against hers to silence her, his arms wrapping around her waist. He murmured her name again and again "_Mai_" and she drank it in every time. There was nothing but a thin blanket separating them, and even now it felt like a cloud, like a rose's sepal protecting the delicate petal inside. He moved it away. Then, his hand was beneath her head, guiding it down to the pillow.

The world could damn them, she didn't care. There was nothing for her, save amber eyes and the welcomed hands that covered her body. Mai gave a little sob, knowing that she had lost herself to him forever.

**More reviews equals faster updates. (coughcoughPLZcoughcough)**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Gawd, how long has it been since I've updated this sucker? -ducks rotten fruit- Eheheheheh. No excuses, except that I'm lazy and didn't have a way to upload the stories until now. I love you guys, I swear, and I haven't forgotten about my fics. So you'll for give me since I made this chapter extra long, won't you? -runs away-

Mai had to admit Joey was an excellent cook, albeit a teasing one. He stole a kiss when she walked near enough to snatch a piece of fruit from the counter near his working place at the stove range. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you patience?" he asked, and swatted her hand away. Grinning, he maneuvered himself to guard the fruit salad with increased vigilance. She, however, outwitted him by pressing herself against him, then catching his ear between her teeth. As he yelped in alarm, she snaked her arm behind him to pick a blueberry from the bowl. "That was so not fair! Using my-my-"

"Using your attraction to me to get something from you?" She blinked in mock innocence. "Well, you know what they say about old habits...Besides, of course I learned patience," she scoffed, then winked at him and said: "But when have you known me to put it into practice?" Joey furrowed one eyebrow in agreement, and then proceeded to the table with butter for their French toast.

"Get the drinks, will you?"

Obediently, she opened the refrigerator and scanned the contents, humming thoughtfully. "Let me see: Pepsi, Pepsi, or…wait! There's Dr. Pepper--oh, never mind. The stupid thing's empty anyhow." Mai harrumphed, and picked two blue cans.

"So. I take it we're having Pepsi?" He laughed at her good-naturedly. "Sorry, I haven't been grocery shopping in a while."

"All the expensive wines around here, which are so conveniently _free_, and you, Joey, go for the drink that's three dollars a pop. How typically male. No taste _whatsoever._"

For some reason Mai couldn't fathom, he looked abashed at her comment. "I don't drink, Mai. You know that."

How could she know? She'd barely been a part of his life for a few months before she'd run away. It was impossible to learn everything about a person in such a short span of time. "No, I didn't know. But I'm sorry if I've offended you. What put you off it?" He noticed that she made no apology for asking such a personal question.

"That's a story for another day," he said, and turned the conversation away from his past, to the feast that lay before them on the round cherry-wood table. French toast, eggs, bacon, and fresh berries that had both of their mouths watering before they were even sitting in their chairs. Mai had more control of herself than Joey, as per usual, despite the appetizing smells that wafted in her direction.

"This looks delicious," she noted approvingly.

"I bet it_ tastes_ delicious too. Then again, it's not like I'd know what the meaning of 'taste' is." He threw her own jab back at her and was pleased to see that she laughed at his unexpected quip. He took a piece of French toast to butter.

"No, you're too busy inhaling your food into the vacuum under you nose to have time for _tasting_," she retorted, but she was still grinning wide. "Seriously though, where'd you learn to cook like this?"

He grinned, pouring syrup on his French toast. "Well, y'see, going underground kind of freed up my busy schedule…a lot. Actually, it was more like all my time became free time," he informed her, "I always liked to eat, and so I figured to myself: 'Maybe I can learn to make this stuff too.' And there you have it." He picked up a strawberry, held it up to her mouth. "Taste one, they're really good."

She did, biting through the strawberry, and then playfully nipping at his fingers once she was rid of it. Just then, to her surprise, he leaned in and tasted her lips. It was gentle and chaste, yet intermingled with his endearing, clumsy roughness of teenage male-hood. Mai decided it was one of the better kisses she'd had in her life.

"You taste like strawberries," he murmured against her cheek in a way that wasn't exclusively lust, although his eyes were a shade darker than a second or two ago It was as though he was entranced by the small, plain truth of it. Well, he _was_ only nineteen. The world, including the female persuasion, was still largely a mystery to him.

Still, she couldn't help the smirk that twitched on her mouth when he pulled away slightly, and whispered back: "Isn't that the most cliché line from a trashy romance novel?" But she let him continue to explore her mouth, ravishing with his light kisses.

"Maybe," he said finally, pulling back. "But I really wanted to say that."

Later, as they were cleaning up the kitchen, Mai queried as to the other's whereabouts.

"I don't know, Mai. I really wish I did," he sighed. He looked lost and forlorn to her, but she knew herself well enough to understand that she wasn't very adept in reading people. She encouraged him to amplify with a slight nod of her head and a glance of curiosity.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know," he said again. "The last time I saw them…gosh, it was almost three years ago…I only know that Mokuba and Tea are gone."

Mai grimaced. "You mean...dead." She refused to play along with the cock-and-bull of walking on eggshells around that word. She had witnessed enough death, and so had he in this hellish world. They could do away with the social etiquette for now, while they were with each other. He turned his head abruptly so he could look at her, surprised that even she could be so forthright, so cruel, but then he saw that her countenance softened a bit. "That must've been hard on Yugi. Losing his girl-friend, I mean."

He gave her a look that said: 'It was hard on all of us.' He took her hand in his, and she met his gaze, understanding passed between them. Life wasn't what it used to be. Everything had changed since the Monsters had been born, ripping apart their frail delusion of security and routine in their pathetic humanity. Swallowing, she asked "What about the kid?"

"Mokuba. Kaiba's little brother."

"Yeah, him. Tell me what happened." She gestured vaguely, impatiently.

_This could not be happening. No mortal eyes should have to see this atrocity. He was here one moment, gone the next. Such an enlivened boy, burning with a fiercely loyal spirit; that was his downfall in the end: His blind devotion to his elder brother. The pool of red is radiating outward from his limp, motionless body. Tea screams, a terrified and despondent cry, upon the glimpse of his grotesquely curved neck and red froth pouring from his forever-agape mouth, and scrambles to the far side of the room, behind Yugi and Tristan. The boy's dark eyes are glassy, unseeing, and unaware. Dead. They are too late. Worst of all, the creature that has made short work of Mokuba Kaiba lurks surreptitiously in the now empty remains of the Kaiba Corp Genetics Lab, and even more Monsters are awakening by the moment. _

_Joey hears Yugi say they shouldn't leave the body. Mokuba was a friend and deserves better. But Tristan, ever the realist (because he _knows_ what could happen if they stay- he's been through pain and lived to tell the tale) asks what can they do? Joey has to bite his lip painfully hard, drawing blood to keep from tearing up. He looks at his friends: Hopeless and somehow still courageous in light of the horrific scenes and events before them. Tea's pretty face is slashed almost beyond recognition, and she is trembling in effort to stand without wincing, refusing Yugi's hand, needing to feel self-reliant and strong for once in her life. Yugi, who once was full of a child-like naiveté, looks to be at the end of his optimism. Tristan is haggard and looks weak in his dread for what he knows is coming. Even with all he's seen in his young life as a member of one of Japan's most renowned street gangs, nothing could prepare him for this. _

_They meet each other's eyes in turn, taking strength from and reciprocating it to their friends. In the midst of a living nightmare, they are still a charmed circle. The same circle Tea pronounced it to be two years ago, as she drew their fates together using a simple black marker. Now, the marker has long faded, but the binding of destinies amongst them is irrevocable; their support and love for one another remains infinite, overflowing, just as it always will. They will always be here, in this moment, in Joey's last memories of his friends, although they must part to survive. _

_A crash sounding from a lower floor in the laboratory, followed by a thunderous roar, is what pushes them to the inevitable edge where the truth stabs into each of them like an icy dagger. _

_The only thing left to do is run. _

Mai wrenched her hand away, the disgust in her eyes heavily apparent. Knowing, Joey let her be, and stood to finish clearing away the table. She strode over to him, and asked uncertainly, "Serenity?"

He opened his mouth, yet was unable to form coherent words. He uttered a strangled sound, cast his eyes on his tattered sneakers. "I hope to God she's alive," he choked out. It was the only explanation he could afford to give. He turned knob on the faucet toward the hot water, picked up a scouring pad; all without looking at Mai. She reached out to comfort him but before she could touch him, he smiled brokenly at her. "That's all I can do, right? Hope…and pray," Joey finished.

"Yeah, it's all anybody can do right now, kiddo," she whispered affectionately as she held him (or let him hold her—Mai wasn't certain which), her eyes misty. She was tough-minded, ruthless even. Anybody who had ever met her knew that she could be a down-right bitch if the situation called for it. Yet here she was, blinking back tears over a young woman she'd met three years prior, and soothing that girl's brother. Joey brashly wiped the tears forming in his eyes, and then walked to the other side of the room to the fridge.

He surveyed the inside, announcing that they would have to go looking for more food. "Wanna come with?" He asked.

"Mhm, and while we're out, I might as well go shopping," she said, gesturing at her dirt-stained skirt and top. "Even a zombie wouldn't be caught dead in this outfit…if you'll excuse the bad pun." She then shifted her eyes to his ragtag clothes and lifted an eyebrow at him. "Looks like you could use a trip to the mall as well."

Face flushing, Joey guided her to the door. Together, the stepped out into a chilly New York City marred with ash and fog in broad daylight.

Three hours and too many department stores later, the couple walked through the doors of a mall that while once grand and full of shoppers, was now almost completely in pieces, except for the south end. The remaining store-owners were forced to sell their merchandise (what could be salvaged, at least) at a ridiculous price, to Mai's chagrin. She gave Joey a quick once-over.

"You do have some fashion sense after all, Joseph." He was dressed casually in jeans and a blue hoodie with "Hadoken" written across the front in Japanese, a blue fireball shooting across the symbols. She ran her hands over his shoulders (broader than she remembered them) "I have to admit, this look suits you nicely."

"Yeah?" He cleared his throat, "Well you look pretty great yourself." It wasn't much of compliment, he knew, because Mai always looked wonderful. Bashfully, he told her so.

"Thanks."

Even though he was more confident in himself, he still slipped into his teenage discomfiture sometimes, especially when it came to Mai. He glanced sideways at her as they walked down the avenue, past remnants of buildings and piles of ashes where some had once stood. Mai had, thankfully, dressed appropriately for the weather. As much as he loved her scanty outfits, he had bee worried about her getting sick ever since he'd found her in that feverish state in the alley. For the first time sense he'd met her, she had give up her skirt for a pair of black skinny jeans and traded her spike-heeled boots for black lace up ones that were better suited to the hazardous terrain. Her leather jacket covered all the way down to her stomach, covering an indigo and black strapless top.

The moment they neared a Dunkin Donuts shop, Joey made a whimpering sound, pulling wistfully towards it.

"No way. Forget about it," Mai tried to sound firm, but his puppyish act made her burst into fits of laughter. "You're doing that"-snort-"on purpose," she accused, glaring at him for a nanosecond before his antics erased all her ability to be serious.

"But Maaaaaiiiiiiiiii, I haven't eaten since breakfast," he whined. He even pouted a little for good measure.

She tugged unrelentingly on his sleeve. "Yeah. Which was hardly three hours ago, and a big breakfast too." Unfortunately, this was Joey they were talking about.

"…"

"Don't look at me like that."

"…"

"_Fine,_ we'll come back after we buy some food, ok?" She compromised.

Joey, placated for the moment, lead Mai around a corner to a street whose shops were all but demolished. No one lived there anymore, Joey said, and it was one of the most dangerous places in the city, especially at night.

"Monsters like to cavort around here 'cause humans stay away from this place," he explained. Mai shot him a look that told him she thought he was the most inane person on the planet.

"…But it's also the quickest way to the nearest food store."

Their shoes made crunching sounds as they picked their way between the piles of ruble that were once the Starbucks and a local deli. A rustling behind the half-standing building caused the hair on the back of Mai's neck to stand on end.

"What was that?" She was on edge, shifting her eyes to the collapsed brick, teeth clenching as she remained stock-still with anticipation.

"I dunno. Let's go, quick," he said, taking her by the wrist down to the safer part of the street. The thing in the wreckage moved again, making a louder sound than before. Joey prayed that it was only a stray animal, but when he heard the ear splitting, raspy screech that it was a Monster. "Shit," he exclaimed as they broke into a run. "Shit!" He looked back briefly at the creature.

It was only the size and shape of a human. Except the skin was black, flecked with oozing sores and blood frm previous encounters, and it had pits where the eyes should be. It roared again, showed a mouth full of yellowish razor teeth. Only the pointed ears and the rusted helmet gave Joey a way of recognizing the Monster. Celtic Guardian.

The two ran, panting, to the closest standing structure. All of a sudden Mai jerked his arm painfully hard to drag him in the opposite direction. Joey saw where she was headed: on the other side of the street were stairs leading down to the subway.

"Hurry up!" Mai snapped, gripped his hand tighter. They fled down the steps into the station lit by too few dim lanterns every fifteen feet or so. She leaned her head on his shoulder while she caught her breath. Finally, she lifted her face to take in her new surroundings. "Nice place," she drawled.

"I wonder if-"

Mai never got to hear what he was about to say because the lights flared unexpectedly, and the floor lurched beneath their feet, pitching them forward in a most indelicate manner so that they fell into each other. "I think they made some technological developments since I've been here," he mused. He was trying keep a light conversation going. Still, his unease showed in the way he linked his fingers with Mai's and pulled her closer to his side.

**Users M14462 and F1285 to Q7S4. ETA is 00:01:49. Thank You for cooperating. We sincerely hope you will enjoy your participation in The Game. **

A/N: I swear I'll update this faster now that I know where it's going. Please give constructive feedback if you review, and don't hesitate to point out errors. (Also, all of my stories will probably have longer chapters from now on, so that I don't end up leaving you all on cliffhangers every time.) I'll have more updates soon. Ciao!


	4. Chapter 4

The conveyor took them for a few thousand meters, beneath the dim lights of the subway station, glowing like small stars in the darkness. When it came to an end in front of a set of electronic double doors, seemingly newly installed, they both stepped off the platform.

"You been here before?" Joey asked.

Mai shook her head, reaching out to the cold metal. "I don't see a way in," she huffed. "How idiotic, forcing us to come here without a way to get inside."

"Um, maybe it's this touch-thing here," he suggested, pointing to a palm-sized protrusion from the wall that was glowing a vague teal color. "I think it's a code, though."

"Yeah, and we have no clue what it is." Joey shook his head ruefully as he watched the blonde woman cross her arms in a pout.

"I know the code, if you'll excuse me, Miss Valentine."

She gasped at the sound of the familiar voice, turning to confirm her suspicions. Of course, who else could it be

"Hello, Valon," she muttered.

He grinned, strode past her to set in the code. "So, you'll be the new players the system registered, I assume."

As the door opened, he stepped in between Mai and Joey. "Don't worry, you'll learn your way around soon enough," he promised, as if he were giving a tour luxury resort. "They're nice enough here, most of them anyway." Valon lead them down the white corridor, lit with burning fluorescent light-bulbs that only enhanced the blinding effect.

"Wait a second." Suddenly, he put his arm in front of the other two in order to keep them still. They were stopped in front of an elevator with a complex series of buttons. The brunette made short work of the code.

A few seconds later, the elevator arrived, but Joey merely stood there in a befuddled sort of way. He had no clue where he was, or why he was here. Worse, Hhe didn't know quite how to behave around the man who had nearly taken the Mai he knew away. Still, they had reached a common ground with each other in their well-meaning mutual affection for the woman, so perhaps he would figure out how to deal with it.

"After you, Wheeler." He playfully shoved the teen into the box.

"So," he began, after righting himself "what exactly are we doing here?"

"Like I said, you're a Player in The Game."

"I generally appreciate knowing the rules before I decide to play something, and even then, it's my decision," Mai scoffed.

Her remark pulled a half-chuckle from Valon. "Yes, that's what we all thought," a dark shadow cast over his words, "but the only way to survive is to win. None of us has a choice in this. Not you, not me, nobody."

Joey bit his lip. "Are you saying they're gonna kill us?"

"He's saying we have to everything we can to win."

"She's got the idea," Valon affirmed, winking. "I always knew you were smart, Mai, even with all that blo-"

Unfortunately, the young man was pinned to the floor before he could finish. Joey raised his eyebrows in awe, though it was nothing compared to the shock that Valon must have been feeling. Mai was standing over him, kneeling on his chest.

"Make one 'blonde' remark," she seethed, "And I'll make sure you never enjoy sex again."

The elevator opened, but Mai had no intention of moving until she'd scared him senseless. "Got it," he squeaked, and she backed daintily off him.

"Now, tell us what exactly we're up against."

He pointed to another doorway, similar to the one at the entrance but without a code-lock system. "I'll give a rundown once we get something to eat."

As soon as they reached the mat in front of the door, it opened to reveal a room that was about the size of a large cafeteria, littered with collapsible tables and shelves with blankets of the same gray hue. To their left, a kitchen, to their right, another room with bunk-beds.

"Welcome home, mates," Valon said softly. "Most everyone's out collecting equipment for the next event."

"What exactly is an 'event'?" Joey queried as he followed the brown-haired man to the kitchen area. Just like the previous rooms, it was bare white, with linoleum floors. The only splash of life and color came from the lights on the walls; they were tea-lights, and what looked like Christmas lanterns of various tacky aquas, indigo, and reds.

"Ah," Valon said. "That's what I'm about to explain."

"So hurry up," Mai urged, pulling out a rickety chair near a wooden table in the center of the room.

Valon sighed and handed them a pack of peanut-butter crackers and a glass of water, then he too sat down. "You know of the Monsters, obviously." They nodded. "What you don't know, is that Kaiba thinks he knows of a way to get rid of them. But we needed people willing to go out and find the materials for the project, as you can see we're not exactly well equipped."

"That's when Kaiba proposed The GAME, The Gathering of Monster Essence. He knew that people were losing resources fast, which is how he pulled them in."

"You mean these people are going out there to collect food?" Joey cocked his head, puppy like. "But that'd mean this is voluntary. You mentioned that we don't have a choice."

"Not quite. Once you're here, we take you to the Screening room to see if your fit enough to participate. If all goes well, you'll be sent off to the Armory. And if you're lucky, they'll find you incapacitated and offer you a room." Valon frowned. "Most people, though, participate, for whatever reason. The Game is as follows: There are two types of teams, Hunters and Gatherers, and six different Elements*, Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Dark, and Light. With me so far?"

"Well," Mai said dryly, "I don't know about the knuckle-head here, but I'm pretty average. No super-powers here."

"The teams are made of six people, with one of each element in each. You decide your powers first, based on their availability, and then we place you in a group that's lacking.

"The Hunters go and, well, hunt. More specifically, they go on the offensive and actively go after the Monsters, once the Trackers have pinpointed a location. That's my role," he pointed to a nasty scar that ran from his forearm to his elbow. "It can get rough out there."

"Gatherers have it a bit easier. When it comes time, they search for the specified materials that Kaiba asks for. I dunno much about what they look for, though."

"Last, the Trackers act as a sort of go-between for the other two. They rarely leave the building, 'cause we count on them to lead us to the next location. They use the computers to find the items and Monsters and point the way to them."

"My brain's hurting," Joey muttered, scrunching his eyebrows together pitifully. Mai was twisting her hair around her finger, yet listening in an intent sort of way.

"So, where do we sign up?" Mai had always been a go-getter.

Joey scrambled off his seat, the chair tipping with a sharp crack on the floor. "You're crazy! Mai, I'm not going to let you go out there and get hurt!" He shouted. "I've seen what happens to people who go up against those things. I seen what it does to people and I refuse to let it happen to you to!"

Instead of being afraid or offended, Mai calmly stood and crossed over to where he stood. Gently, she put her hand on his shoulder. "We don't have much of a choice, Joey. You know that as well as I do." When he seemed calmer, she stepped away. "Besides, I might not have to go outside."

"But you'll want to," he whispered.

She flashed a fierce grin, "You bet."

"I don't."

"You can't stop me," she warned. Her eyes were shining with an intensity that rivaled all that he'd seen in them before. "I want to fight, Joey. How else would my life have meaning otherwise?"

He brushed her cheek with his finger; she flinched away "Just by being alive, being here with me-"

Valon cleared his throat. "If you'd like, I can take you to the Screening Room now. If not, you have less than an hour before the guards will take you there by force."

Joey reluctantly acquiesced. "Let's go."

***

They watched Valon explain the intricacies of the system. Their was a caliper with electronic readings, a heart-rate machine


	5. Chapter 5

Y'know, I'd hoped to have this out before midnight, but whatever. Happy New Year, gaiz~! As a present, here is my longest chapter yet, around 3,000 words. And a bonus: The first three people to review can request something polarshippy from me. Either A: a scene/challenge for this story, or B: a drabble fic. I'd prefer choice A. Keep in mind that while I'm flexible, I may not be able to get to your challenge until later in the story, while a drabble will be quicker. But really, a prompt for this story would help a lot. Cough cough.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

------------

They watched Valon explain the intricacies of the system. There was a caliper with electronic readings, an electrocardiograph, and various other pieces of medical

and fitness equipment, all whirring or beeping and buzzing according to its own counsel. For a few moments, it was only this cacophony of machines that broke the silence, until finally, Valon beckoned Joey over, leaving Mai to look around the room by herself. The contraption that Joey stood in front of had several electrical pads the size of a silver dollar made to be attached to the user's skin. On the screen was an outline of a person, showing virtual dots that would correspond to the actual pads on the user.

"Stand here," Valon ordered, pointing to a spot that was marked with tape on the cement floor. Joey did as he asked, eyes flitting about nervously as he began to wonder exactly what in the world he was getting himself into. When the older male saw his squirming, he gave a half sort of chuckle. "Nothing to be afraid of, mate. All this thing's gonna do is measure some things for me." He patted the blond on the shoulder, trying to be somewhat comforting. He remembered when he had first been dragged here, and not by choice. It was a nerve-wracking experience to be thrown into the game like this, against your will. Joey shrugged him off.

"That's an awful lot of pads to be sticking on me," Joey remarked, giving a whistle, then he asked. "What exactly does this thing measure again?" Meanwhile, Valon ignored his queries, and set to work on sticking the pads to his skin. One to his forehead, his pulse in his neck and both wrists, his heart, his biceps, and a few places on his back and abdomen.

"Your brainwave patterns, and neuron pathways...muscle memory, reaction time, thing like that. You know, anatomy and the psychology and such," Valon said, in between checking the wires to make certain that they were in good condition, as if it were the most natural thing in the world and a layman like Joey (or anyone who was not a neuroscientist, for that matter), should be able to comprehend the machine's purpose.

Joey only looked even more confused and bordering on worried. "This is going to...read my mind?"

"No," the brown haired man said, "It reads electrical impulses, based on your reaction time and your type of reaction. I can tell right now that you're very nervous about this, Wheeler, because the lights on the right side of your brain are flashing like a strobe light gone haywire," he said with a hint of a smirk in his voice.

"Just get on with it," Joey griped. He realized that there was absolutely no point in waiting around for the other shoe to drop, better to meet whatever fears awaited him head on. Valon lead him into a chamber, with tempered glass sides and a metal grate for a roof and floor, leaving Mai to inspect the room by herself. Beyond the walls, though, all he could see was white. No, not even that, more like a clear expanse of nothingness. He couldn't feel the pads that Valon had attached anymore. Looking down at his chest, he noted that they weren't even there, yet no mark was left behind on his skin. The door shut behind him, and he was standing alone in the strange room. Ok, this was going to make him even more anxious, glancing around the room hurriedly, looking for a way to escape. There was none. Just then, a voice touched his ears, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Alright in there, Wheeler?" Valon, it appeared, was having entirely too much fun with this.

"Just fine," Joey lied; he was shaking in his boots, but he was not about to let this guy know that. "Let's get this show on the road!"

A hearty laugh, "Ok, tough guy, let me explain the rules: Rule Number One: There are no rules. The goal of the test is to get out with your sanity. Trust me on this, easier said then done."

"And what exactly are you gonna be doing?"

"Watching, of course. Somebody has to keep up with you. Anyway, just keep in mind that none of this is real, even though a lot of it is going to feel that way. You'll be able to touch and taste and hear things that you never thought possible. I can pull you out anytime you want if it gets to be too much for you, but if that's the case, you forfeit any chance of joining the ranks. Master this and you're almost guaranteed a spot in The Game. Get it? Got it? Good. Let me know when you're ready." The voice said much too cheerfully for Joey's taste. What a bastard Valon could be.

He figured that now was as good a time as any, although he had no idea what was going to be thrown at him. Taking a deep breath, he gave the older man the signal to go.

"Just remember, Wheeler, the object is to survive this with your sanity intact. In any way you can."

Then his voice was gone, and he was truly all alone in the strange white room. So far, nothing was happening. The silence in that room grew stronger, almost overpowering, as did the sense of loneliness. Somehow he knew that all contact with the outside world was gone. He felt like a newborn, being cut from its mother. Why was there no sound? Or maybe it was simply because he could not hear any more. He nearly opened his mouth to speak, to test if his voice or his ears worked in the slightest, but something held him back. Joey made a rumble in the back of his throat, a short-lived sound that died like a will-o-wisp. How long had he been in this place? Surely not that long; Valon had only left a few moments ago. Well, not that he could be certain of that. It felt as though time were halted, or slowed, or maybe even speeding up. Hell, he didn't know. There was no door, window, staircase, any form of exit. He would have to make his own way, and so Joey stepped forward to the middle of the metal grate.

-----------

As soon as he did, the scene changed. He was back in a hotel with his friends, just before the advent of the Monsters having been set loose from Kaiba's lab. They were all there, arranged in a haphazard circle made of armchairs, while two sat on the ornate carpet. Tea, her chestnut hair now past her shoulders, clad in a green sweater and pair of jeans, sat on the edge of Yugi's chair. The boy was taller than she was by only a few inches, still wiry in frame, wearing a black button up shirt. Serenity knelt on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest in a childish manner, causing her yellow skirt to fan out beneath her. Her hair was a short bob, in a cute fashion that framed her face, like he remembered it from the day they were only grade-schoolers and had sneaked out to play at the beach. Tristan, sitting beside her, in a dark brown jacket, kept stealing glances at her. The room was quiet, except for the five of them and their conversation, muffled by the ornate drapes decorated in a crimson baroque-style hanging from the ceiling. Joey remembered the place so well in his mind. It was the last peaceful moment that he and his friends had shared before their lives had become hell. Two days before Tea was brutally murdered.

"I'm starving," Tristan burst out, leaning onto his back.

Tea sighed ruefully at him, rolling her eyes. "Aren't you always? You and Joey both, I swear..." She thought for a moment, then "We could go to that new Italian restaurant a few blocks down," she suggested. "I hear they have great lasagna." They all agreed, and went to their respective rooms to change into more appropriated outfits.

Joey remembered it all too well. They had come down the stairs, in suits and dresses, prepared for an expensive meal and a night on the town. Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened.

"Hey, Joey," his sister caught his attention by linking the arm that was not occupied with Tristan's, with his. "We were thinking about going to the new club afterward, feel like coming?" Oh, that's right. Serenity was supposed to be leaving for Japan for an extended visit with their mother the next night. How could he have forgotten? Too much work, that was how. Joey knew that by 'we' Serenity meant Tristan and herself. But, sweet Serenity, it was unbearable for her to think of leaving without saying goodbye. Long ago, he would have jumped to go along just to get between the two. How could he leave Serenity with a sleazeball, even if it was the boy he'd known for years? Now, however, as much as he pretended to be hostile over his best friend and little sister dating, he was actually very glad. No one else would take better care of Serenity than Tristan. The man was nearly as protective of the red-head as Joey.

"Nah," he said dismissively, "I'm heading to a meeting with Yugi and Tea after dinner."

Tristan grimaced, clapping a hand on Joey's shoulder and giving him a rueful grin. "Let me guess, with Kaiba?"

"You got it," Joey affirmed, returning the grin. "But it's only for an hour, he says, and it involves our paychecks. But you guys go ahead and have fun. I'll survive." he told them, in an effort to reassure them.

Serenity was still uncertain. "We could wait for you, if you like," she pressed him in a quiet manner, obviously not wanting to start an argument, but also desiring to have a last night out with her elder brother. She didn't know when she would next see him. Joey shook his head firmly, pulling at a curl of hair that had escaped from her bun.

"I told you, it's fine. We'll do something together before you leave, pinky swear," he held out his smallest finger, linked it with hers, and they shook.

If Joey had know that the meeting that he was about to go to would unveil the creatures capable of destroying Joey's life as he knew it, of taking away every person he held dear, he would have spent that night with all of them losing himself in the neon strobe lights of a dance club. But he wasn't that sort of person anymore, not a slacker punk. He had a job to do and bills to pay, and hopefully, a whole life a head of him full of responsibility. As much as he wished he didn't.

---------

He stood in the white room again, flashes of memories invading his mind. He felt the unseemly guilt of what could have been. He should never have agreed to see those Monsters. Well, Kaiba would have possibly unleashed them with or without Yugi and his blessing, but at least Joey wished he'd been man enough to say that he was against the project. Even three years later, the effects of his foolishness weighed heavily upon his heart and mind.

Still, Valon had said that this room, or whatever it was, was meant to test his sanity. That memory he had relived was bittersweet, yes, but it was nowhere near traumatic. He had a feeling that things were only going to get worse from here. He braced himself for whatever was going to happen next.

----------

This time, he saw an apartment, decorated with a feminine touch. Pastel blue colored the wall, and there were pictures of flowers along with a some others of people. In those pictures, he glimpsed a shot of a red haired girl and little boy. In the corner of the room was a television, showing news from America. More precisely, it showed the Monster attacks in Atlanta.

A voice spoke from behind him, tearfully. "Mom, I've got to help them. Joey's in that country! My friends are all there!" He turned around to face his sister. Instead of greeting him, however, she glanced right through him, speaking to someone else behind him-- their mother.

"Sweetheart," the woman cooed, moving to take her daughter into her harms for comfort. "I know you want to, but it's too dangerous for me to willingly let a fifteen year old girl go there."

"But--" Serenity pulled back, appalled. "What about Joey? He's still your son, , even if you don't want to recognize him as such. And he's the only brother I have. I'm going to go, Mother," resolute, stubborn in a way Joey had never seen her, she moved away, only to be caught by the arm. She froze in indecision, then wrenched her arm away. "I dare you to try and stop me." Instead of reaching for her again, Ms. Kawaii watched her daughter slam the Sailor Moon-sticker door to her room.

Joey watched it all from his invisible place. Oh, God, no...Serenity. How could this be true? How could his mother be so weak as to stand there and watch her one and only baby girl pack her bags to go to a country where she may well meet her death? Now he truly had a reason to hate the woman. Not that he had ever been on good terms with her before...He wished that his mother had been stronger, holding the girl back in any way possible. Except...the look of determination in her amber eyes had taken him aback as well. He doubted that all the Monsters and Mothers in the world would have been able to stop her from coming to his rescue....

As far as he now understood it, if this was true, Serenity was here in America. The thought alone nearly drove him to his knees in fear.

------------

The next scene was worse, making Joey finally understand what sort of a test he was being put through. He was in the Kaiba Corp lab, on the day that the Monsters had escaped, but in a different room that he remembered from the original date. He heard a girl's voice, sobbing hysterically. Serenity? No, she wouldn't have been there. After racking his brain a moment, he realized it was Tea. He spun around in a circle, trying to locate her.

"Tea!" He shouted out to the girl forgetting that she most likely could not hear him. Her hair had been swept up in a high ponytail, and dressed in black jeans and a gray jacket, she was difficult to spot in the gloom.

"Yugi, Tristan?" She ignored his cry, just as he assumed she would. Instead, he heard her footsteps carry her away, into another room. "Is anyone there?" The girl sounded so despairing that he wanted nothing more than to come to his friend's rescue and keep her safe. But, as he was about to learn, he could never change the fact that she had died. Even so, he wondered if he could handle witnessing it for himself. Something inside urged him on to follow Tea into that room, despite his qualms.

There, in the room, was a Monster. From the looks of it, a Silver Fang. It was barely larger than a normal wolf, but even that would have been too much for a human to take on. And this wolf was hell-bent on slaughter, blood thirsty murderer, a hungry hunter with power flowing through its frame. He looked on helplessly as Tea wrestled, arms flailing to defend her face as the wolf-like creature snapped at her. Joey watched her kick the animal with powerful leg muscles honed from a life's worth of dancing. It flew back several feet, then launched itself again at her, knocking her to the ground. There was no scream from the girl, merely a pitiful squeak. As much as he wanted to look away from it all, a sick and twisted desire to watch, to understand what had happened to her (they never hand found out what killed her; all that was left was her bones), he couldn't not see the blood red of her throat as the Monster sank its sharp white fangs into it, shaking her like a rag doll before she could react. He couldn't not watch the light fade from her blue eyes. But what he could do was turn his body after that, shutting his hands over his ears to block out the tearing of flesh and bone. If anything, he wanted to remember his friend as she was, it was too unbearable to think of her as a piece of food.

"Please, please make it stop," he whispered, partly to block out the crunching noises better, but mainly because he wanted to beg, "No more. I don't want to see anymore. Get me out, somebody!"

--------

Valon turned to see a young woman with light brown eyes and hair an autumn color, cropped in a pixie-fashion, come stomping into the control room in a huff. "Valon, you ass! You could have told me my brother was here! And Mai too!" She raged, seeing the woman below.

"Excuse me, girlie," he shot back, as suave as ever, brushing off her anger. "But he had business to take care of. You know we can't allow the new recruits in with the vets until they pass the test."

She looked through the screen at her elder sibling in the white room. He was crouched on the ground now, muttering something, then screaming almost helplessly. Oh, that awful place. "Stop it, Valon, he's been through enough!" Serenity cried out. "He's passed, have you even looked at his scores? Just let him out."

Actually, Valon had seen his scoring, but he wanted to press the man to his limits. His threshold was incredibly high, really. "Alright already, twat. Computer: Shut down sequence," he ordered.

Serenity was halfway down the staircase before he had even uttered the words that brought Joey back to blissful reality.

-------------

And there we are! I figure the sibling reunion can wait til next chapter, no? Well, read and review, pretty please. Even if it's just a 'good story' or some con-crit, it makes my day. Don't hesitate to tell me if there are glaring mistakes, either. I only have firefox to spellcheck right now.


	6. Chapter 6

Y halo thar, readers. =) This is the next installment in the series. Update in a month?! Omg whut I don't even...! Mhm, that's right.

And I'm making a vow to myself. Either this story is getting finished by the end of the year, or I'm giving up. It's been four years since I started this, and I'm afraid I'll have run out of steam if I drag it on for much longer. I'm going to try to give shorter, bi-monthly updates, though, and try my best to have it finished. At the least, I'll definitely get the requests worked in. Fingers crossed that I get this baby kicked in gear.

I'm sorry this is a non-actiony chapter, but it had to be done. Next will be a shorter chapter on Mai's receiving an element power (cookies if you can guess what it is!) , and then the Games begin.

Disclaimer: Mine. Not. OK?

Onward, loyal followers...

* * *

Serenity screeched aloud as she collided with the form of a sandy-haired young man, a head taller than her, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Joey!" The girl buried her face into his shoulder, and the nineteen year old hugged her back so tightly it was as if he was trying to soak up every moment they'd lost from one another by telepathy or osmosis. "How did you find this place?" She pulled away to stare up at her elder brother, curious and bewildered all at once.

He smiled uneasily, "We were running from the Monsters, Mai and I. It was the closest means of escape we could find," he said by way of explanation. Serenity noticed how her brother had changed. It had been three years since she had last seen his face, now that she thought about it. He was nineteen, more filled out in frame and strong-jawed. Gone was the lanky teenage boy who had fought to the death for his baby sister and everyone else he loved, doggedly loyal to the point of exasperation. And even in those milliseconds of their reunion, Serenity could see he had become more than all of that. Joey had experienced as much of this as she had. For the moment, however, he simply looked afraid.

"You're safe inside this place, don't worry," she said.

"Serenity... what exactly have they got you doing around here?" He finally worked up the courage to ask.

Her eyes went round as an owl's and her mouth abruptly opened and shut, all in her uncertainty as to what information she ought to share. He was her brother, and her best friend, and now part of the Game, but... "I'm a Tracker," she settled for the minimum that she could answer and get away with. When he sighed in relief, she knew it had been the right thing to say.

"Good," he nodded, "So you stay inside then; no chance of you getting hurt out there."

"Nope, perfectly fine, now let's go check up on Mai. Valon told me I can take you guys to the armory when she's finished with her evaluation

As they walked to the bridge, she felt him reach out to pet the back of her head, caught his bemused glance.

"You cut your hair short," he mumbled. She smiled, running a hand through the rusty-colored locks.

"It's easier this way," she said. "I-" Then she stopped herself. There was no point in telling him the reason she had wanted it cut.

A part of her didn't want to admit to Joey that she'd failed in her assigned task. It would hurt her pride, because she'd be acknowledging that she was just a teenage girl who didn't understand what she had gotten herself into. And Serenity, more than anything else in the world, secretly wished to be as great as her big brother, without his help. He was looking at her curiously now, but luckily for her he didn't seem to have noticed that she'd been on the verge of spilling what she considered a humiliating secret.

***

"Computer, access data log and analysis for players M14462 and F1285," Serenity commanded. Joey thought it strange to listen to is meek younger sister using such a tone of voice, so authoritative. The computer screen filled with codes, only a few of which were recognizable to Joey or Mai, but Serenity typed furiously away at the keys with singular purpose, and then turned to face them.

* * *

Player: M1462

Designation: H, 1st level

* * *

Player: F1285

Designation: G, 1st level

* * *

Joey did a secret victory dance when he saw that Mai wasn't to be a Hunter. She'd still have to go outside, which he'd been hoping that she wouldn't, but it was better than nothing. Mai wasn't so thrilled, but kept her annoyance hidden for the time being.

"We can go to the armory now," Serenity said cheerfully. Mai let out a puff of air, indicating her nervousness at what sort of 'armor' would be thrust upon them and her anger at her assignment title; she refused Joey's hand when he offered. She wasn't that anxious, certainly not enough to need to hold on to someone's hand in front of said person's sibling, who didn't even know that they were now an item...Joey looked hurt, she noted, so she reminded herself to make it up to him later.

The room the trio arrived in a few doors down was fairly small, about the size of a bedroom in a house. On the walls were weapons of different sorts, and strange glass vials in varying colors. In the front of the room was a plain white table and first aid kit, as well as a chair that looked as though it belonged to a hospital. Serenity beckoned them over to the table.

"Wait here a minute." She said, then paced to the other side of the room where the vials hung, and pulled out two of them. Filling the syringe with the substance from one, a golden color that was not quite liquid, not quite gas, and shook it. "Joey, you can go first, if that's alright with you?"

He nodded, glancing at the needle. "I guess..."

Serenity almost laughed at his expression. She'd forgotten that needles tended to provoke such negative reactions in her elder brother. "It hurts much less than a regular shot, I swear. You might want to lie back, though, this stuff can feel pretty weird the first time it enters your system," she recommended. Joey still didn't look convinced. Teasingly, she told him Mai could hold his hand if he was that afraid.

The pitiful face he made had apparently worked, as he felt slender fingers wrapping around his own, and a sneering voice. "Aw, is little Joey scared of shots?"

"If I could move, you'd be asking for it," he threatened mildly, but he to be honest he was a little upset at her, and she was having a bad time too. Alas, he was not, in fact, able to move, so there was little he might do about it for the time being. He felt Serenity disinfecting a spot on his bicep with a damp piece of gauze, and then a sharp jab. "Aggh! I thought I was supposed to get a countdown or something," he grumbled in a half-hearted manner.

"Oh, shut up, baby," Serenity and Mai both said at the same time. The two women locked eyes and smiled at each other, happy that their sisterly bond hadn't been totally demolished by time and distance.

"We need to leave him here for a few moments, Mai. Then it'll be your turn," the younger girl told her.

"Wait a sec, leave me? And do what exactly?" Joey was panicking. He'd just been stuck un-apologetically and painfully (by his own sister no less) with some freaky drug, and now they were telling him that it was better for him to be alone? Great, fricking great. Maybe they were waiting to see if he reacted and turned into the Hulk. He sighed, pretending to be mortally offended. "I see, nobody loves me."

"It's dangerous for us to be in here while the Element activates in your body. And it's only for a few minutes. Just relax, silly." The seventeen year old girl brushed his hair back from his forehead, but jerked her hand back when she felt a strange spark. "And that's our cue. Come on, Mai."

Joey's body felt like he'd been shocked in a lighting storm, but it was not painful. Rather, there was a tingling sensation, numbed, and a warm, lightheaded feeling as the Element power took hold of him. Had he been witnessing the event from outside, he would have noticed the sparks of electricity that were bouncing off his body, the way he glowed slightly, along the contours, and heard the pounding of his own heartbeat. But for those minutes, he was paralyzed to most of the sensations that racked him.

Outside, the girls watched him. Mai leaned in to get a better look, then turned to Serenity. "What's happening exactly?"

"His element is infusing into his biological systems," the younger of the two responded. "He won't feel anything, and this was a small dosage of the power to get him accustomed... He's a Light."

Mai raised her eyebrows in confusion. "His element?" Serenity gave nod in affirmation. "Really, then do all of you have an element?"

"Mhm, I'm a Water, and Valon's an Earth. Each team has six players, with all of the six elements on the team." Mai thought back to what Valon had said, as the explanations clicked into place. "You'll meet the others on the team when you've been prepped for the tasks," she paused, "We usually refer to the Players as '-kinetics'. Joey's a photo-kinetic, and I'm hydro-kinetic."

"And me?" Mai asked expectantly, mind wandering in every direction to think of the remaining element she'd be allotted to receive. If there was already a Light, Earth, and Water...

Serenity poked her tongue out in a cute, mischievous way, taunting her. "I guess you'll find out very soon!"

* * *

Next Up: Mai's Element


	7. Chapter 7

I think this is a new record for me, but I hope it hasn't put too big a dent in the quality of the writing, all things considered... Anywho, enjoy the chapter. : )

And yes, Mai's sort of...withdrawn and bitchy, but that's just my interpretation of her character. She seems like one of those 'ultra-feminist' types. XD

Disclaimer: No, just no.

* * *

Mai went about receiving her element in a calmer manner than Joey, or she appeared to, at least. She sat in the chair, a disinterested expression smoothed over her features as the injection was forced into a vein. "...So do I have to sit here all by myself too?"

Serenity shook her head. "Your power isn't dangerous the way Joey's is. With a photokinetic, the power manifests itself as intense heat and electricity, at least the offensive part. You're aerokinetic, a Wind, but you have so little power at the moment that it isn't as if you can conjure up a tornado in the room or something...there, finished," she proclaimed, stepping back to look at her friend. "Do you feel alright?"

"I feel the same as before," Mai replied, looking down at her arm, "am I supposed to feel differently?"

"No, not yet. Well, yours won't be as...odd as Joey's power. Light is the hardest of them all to tame, it runs best as a pure element, but that also makes it even harder to control. Most elements are used through a weapon, or vector, and are the more powerful for it."

Joey's face scrunched up in puzzlement, his eyes locking with the young girl. "Wait a sec. Are you saying that this thing can mess me up if I don't learn to keep it in check?"

"It might," Serenity answered, shrugging, "photokinetics often find their powers increase in times when they're stressed, or intense emotions pop up. Just worry about controlling those and you'll have no problem." The tawny-haired boy filed the information away later when he'd need it, thankful that it didn't seem to be as big of a problem as he had figured, if the way Serenity acted was anything to go on.

Mai, in the meantime, had put a hand to her forehead. "I feel light-headed. Is that normal?" She looked around, a slightly confused glaze in her violet eyes. Funnily enough, she vaguely a resembled a person who'd was heavily intoxicated. Her searching stare found Joey, and he stroked the back of her arm gently, reassuringly. Honestly, it was even worse than 'light-headed', but she didn't have any other way to explain how it felt. Like her body was suddenly trying to float away, yet the logical part of her refused to believe it was possible, resulting in a push-pull of dizziness washing over her. "I mean, more like I've got vertigo or something..." the blonde shut her eyes to ward off the unpleasant feelings.

The complaints Mai rattled off as she experienced them only made Serenity grin. She clasped Mai's shoulder to try and comfort her. "For an aero, yes, this is perfectly natural."

"She looks like she's going to be sick, there's no way in hell that's 'natural'," Joey protested, squeezing her hand again.

Serenity jumped up suddenly, returning with a small plastic bin."Oh, almost forgot, here's a trashcan. The symptoms are all part of the Wind element entering your system, like with Joey."

The young man turned to her, a bewildered frown gracing his countenance, "What the hell is this? This isn't normal, it's freaking' disturbing," he looked back down at the sickly blonde in the chair; Mai was now looking even greener than before, if that was even possible. "Mai, are you--"

"Out!" Mai screeched, clearly past her breaking point. Yes, she felt like she was being slung back and forth through a wind-tunnel and she appreciated the support, but enough was enough. There was only so much attention she could take before she turned down-right nasty. Joey started, backing away to give her space, then appeared to change his mind and instead rushed to her side again, touching her forehead.

"It's OK, I promise," he whispered reassuringly, "Just hold on to my arm or whatever if you feel scared." Those tender, yet unwise words earned him a glare from the woman.

"I. Am. Not. Afraid. I just want you both to leave me alone so I can handle this on my own, got it?" she growled. Joey was taken aback, but even more than that, he was hurt. From what little he knew of his love, Mai had often been forced to deal with hurtful things all by herself as a child. But that didn't mean that she had to go through something like this alone, not when Joey was right there beside her.

He made up his mind, kneeling by the chair so he wouldn't have to crouch anymore, hissing "Yeah? What if I want to be here, ever thought of that? I want to help you, and I'm staying by your side until you're in better condition, whether you like it or not," he breathed heavily, amber eyes locking challengingly with amethyst, daring her to break away from them, "I'm not leaving you to fight this alone."

Mai's glower softened a bit, "Fine, but don't blame me when I puke all over you." Joey winced, then gave a wan smile in return, simply patting the back of her head. "Kidding. I think I'm alright now. Meaning you can unglue yourself from my hip," she elaborated when he made no move to give her some space. It was true that she still felt a teeny bit dizzy, but the worst of it was gone.

Serenity, who had watched the episode from an even-paced distance away, finally stepped in between the two so that she could check on Mai. "Look at me."

Mai did, and squinted when a small light was aimed at her face. Serenity poked and prodded her a little more, then, satisfied, helped her sit up better. "The both of you can go lie down in the dormitories if you like. You've had a long day, and it's not like it will get easier from here," the seventeen year old snorted at her own joke.

"Great, college all over again," Joey laughed, joining in.

"Except there's no curfew, and no restriction of the sexes," Serenity confirmed. "Pretty much everyone has partner that they share a room with, but we don't care about who sleeps where. It's more about the issue of space."

Gingerly, the young man helped Mai into a standing position, and the two of them followed behind the confident steps of the girl through a wide hallway with many sliding doors much like the ones on the Kaiba Corp blimp. That would make sense, as Kaiba was supposedly the one running this gig. Some of the doors were open, and all of those rooms were empty.

"It helps to get the new recruits in as fast as possible, so we ask that only the occupied dorms be shut and locked. That way we can find a room easily for the newbies," Serenity offered, almost like she'd understood his thoughts. They stopped in front of a room a few doors from the end of the hallway. "Welcome to home sweet home, if you can call it that. I'll see you guys later. There's work to be done," the red-head apologized. "It's really good to see you again, Joey. I've missed you..."

Joey reached over to embrace his baby sister, murmuring a "So have I. Love you, Ren," into her hair. Serenity nodded, hugging tighter, then let go to give Mai a peck on the cheek.

"Don't let my brother get himself into too much trouble while I'm gone, alright?" She grinned cheekily up at her adopted "big sister".

With a small wave, she left the two to explore their new room.

The dorm had a bunk-bed on the far right side, a small chest of drawers on either side of that, and a tiny kitchen area with a miniature fridge (Joey nearly drooled at the very sight), and a door in the middle. Mai assumed it was a closet, but upon inspection it turned out to be a tiny bathroom. The shower, hardly big enough to for a person to turn around in, was no more than three feet from the toilet. Mai groaned to herself.

"You'd think Kaiba would have better taste than this. I mean, remember the Battle City blimp? That was pretty classy. This, not so much."

Joey was all too inclined to agree with her, lamenting the fact that the tiny refrigerator only had some water bottles and a bag of dried cranberries. "They must expect me to starve in here..."

Mai snatched the package of fruit. "You're kidding. These are the bomb!" She opened the pack and poured a few into her hand. "Here, try some." She held out her palm. Rather than take some, Joey inched sat down cross-legged a few feet away, mouth agape.

"I'm open," he proclaimed, grinning. Mai resisted the urge to smack him across the face with her shoe for being so immature, and aimed a cranberry at his mouth. "You're right, these aren't bad," Joey agreed, between thoughtful chewing. "But I'd still rather have a chicken sandwich."

Later, when they were in the bed (Joey on the top, Mai on the bottom bunk. The single mattresses were far from being made for sleeping side by side), the two of them wondered about what the new dawn would bring, in the silent comfort of their own minds, with the bitter tang of fear curling in their stomachs.

* * *

Gah, that's like THE most awkward place to leave the chapter, I know guys. _/shot_ But it was the most satisfying place for me, and anything after that would've been utter sh**. So yeah.

I think next chap will involve a vocab/terms list, and there will **definitely** be action. Fo'real this time, I swearz it orz


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter goes out to LuckyBlackCat, for um, reasons they will probably understand after they read. Hint: it has something to do with the requests. ;) So tell me what you think of it, yeah?

* * *

**Chapter 8**

This was her first mission assignment, and damned if she was going to picked out as the failure among them. The sky above was as sullen, dark and ashy as it had been a week ago. Had it been that long since she had stepped outside, really? She heard the shrill screams of the Monsters, though she couldn't pinpoint any from her vantage point. The only reason she had to worry about the creatures was to stay away from them. Less than fifteen days in the training sessions, going out on small trips to hunt for practice targets, and honing her skills as a kinetic had all lead up to this, her first real test of skill.

The re-curve bow was for more for protection than anything. Valon had strictly warned her to stay out of trouble, citing his reasons in the form of a list of all the casualties of naive, overly eager Gatherers. Her mission was simply to find a piece of equipment that had been dropped by a less than careful member of the team a few days prior to their arrival.

("We can't go without it, Mai. I know you won't let us down. There's a reason I assigned this one to you.") His words rang in her head, giving her a boost of confidence. Well, the kiss from Joey before she headed out hadn't exactly hurt either.

Her black combat boots crunched over bits of gravel as she let her radar guide her to the direction of the item. Supposedly, it was a piece of metal, titanium, and she would know it when she saw it. Never mind the fact that didn't have the slightest idea as to what to be looking for. Mai was relying heavily on the radar tracking device to guide her. And, according to the device, she was less than a mile from her target.

According to Valon, the best Gatherers were the ones that went out, retrieved the item, and got out as quickly as possible. They were the ones who survived, she reminded herself.

A rumbling sound behind her caught Mai's attention. She plucked an arrow from her quiver, preparing to string the bow at a moment's notice. From behind a rock, a small furry thing the size of a small dog emerged. It had acid-green eyes, and little claws, and no mouth. Mai clutched her sides in relief, but also in incredulity.

"A Kuriboh? What, are you planning to kill me with hairballs?" Mai laughed at her own joke.

The Kuriboh didn't appear to share her amusement. Without warning, it bared sharp little fangs (have we mentioned the creature had no mouth?), and hurled itself toward her. Mai was prepared, though. As calmly as possible, she brought forth the Wind from her center, flowing from inside her blood to the tips of her fingers, holding the arrow to the string as the trainers had taught her. The Element didn't need to be controlled so much as guided. Wind had few in the way of destructive qualities that were not tied to the will of the kinetic, she'd been told. In other words, it was only as powerful as Mai herself wanted to be.

She let the arrow fly with inhuman speed, and did an inner victory dance when it pierced the Kuriboh's side. The Monster fell to the side, gurgling and making other obscene noises, before it was still. Curiously, she continued to look at it, walking over to kick it with her shoe to see if it was really that easy. Well, it turned out that it was, as the creature's lifeless eyes stared up at her unblinkingly. Satisfied, she kept onward.

Her radar changed direction to point northwest of where she was headed. She squeezed her way between two heaps of buildings, no more than twice her height, before coming to rest in an open area. Before the Event, the place had likely been a plaza of sorts; to the right she saw the bent legs of a metal chair sticking out of the rocks.

To the left, a peculiar light came from the side of a mound. Her radar chirruped in quick bursts, ringing through her ears, increasing in frequency as she came ever closer to inspect the object. A smirk twisted at the corners of her mouth as she reached to dig it out.

"Bingo," she smirked, clenching the metal in her two hands. It was the size of her head, but not too heavy, and warped into a curve. Mai felt as though she had the right to gloat over her first mission accomplished, although she rightfully knew better. The task wasn't over until she brought the titanium back to the base, unharmed. She set the metal down at her feet so that she could find the coordinates in her radar that would lead her back. Then, she tucked it back under one arm and started an even pace toward "home".

'Ah, Mai. Hasn't anyone ever told you that pride comes before a fall? That's what they always say, you know.'

"Who said that?" she whipped around, paranoid and angry, demanding in her tone. She didn't like the way that voice made her feel. Then again, when had a disembodied voice ever been a good thing? Without another thought, she took out an arrow in preparation to defend herself if need be.

"I'm warning you, I'm armed, and I'm not afraid to kill." As much as she tried to keep her voice steady, she knew that it was shaking as much as her hand.

'Never mind me. We've been watching you, Mai. Be a good little girl and do as I say, now.'

She tried glaring, but the effect was somewhat lost in the fact that she had no particular person to look at. Still, the intent was strongly there. Okay, either a voice out of nowhere was telling her to submit to it (a possibility), or she was going crazy (an even more likely possibility).

"Or what?" she demanded. "Listen, bub. I don't know you, and I don't know how you've been following me all this time, but Mai Valentine doesn't take crap from just anyone. And you, sir, are nobody to me."

'If that is how you feel...'

"You're damn right that's how I feel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."

She really should have suspected that there was something amiss, except it was more fun to walk away believing you'd won. That made it all the more humiliating when Mai felt the dart sink into her neck. Footsteps came upon her; a familiar woman's dark hair hung over her face, sad expression in the deep brown eyes.

"Viv..?" And that was all she managed to say before the drug took hold of her fully.

"I'm really sorry about this, Mai."

* * *

"So, where is Mr. Moneybags exactly? You guys tell me he's running this whole deal, but I haven't seen so much as a hair of him around," Joey inquired of Valon, resting his chin on his knees in a boyish fashion, spinning around in the wheeled chair he sat in.

"Dunno. The bloke seems to come and go," Valon shook his head, "Last time I saw him was, crap, a week ago maybe? He give us orders, then dodges out to do his own thing." He huffed, distractedly running his fingers through his thick brown hair, shooting the blond teenager a look, "Don't ask me what said 'thing' is, either. I'm the commander of this squad, but he doesn't tell me jack," the young man spat out, not even trying to hide his slight disappointment and anger.

Joey smirked, but kept his mouth shut. "Yeah, sounds like Kaiba. I used to work for him, y'know, before..." he laughed in a bitter way, "Never thought that he'd come to this, no matter how screwed in the head he was, how power hungry-- and believe me, he was really-- it's mind blowing how people can change."

Valon took notice that Joey spoke of Kaiba like an old friend, perhaps not a very close friend, but a person he cared for enough to regret losing. He thought about asking him what sort of work the man had done under Seto Kaiba, but the far off look in the boy's honey-colored eyes told him that it was for the best if he just left it alone.

Before either of them could change the topic of conversation, a smart looking girl with fairy blue eyes behind glasses and hair in a clip burst through the door, disheveled. "We've lost contact with the new Gatherer," she panted, worry lining her mouth and her whole body shaking.

Joey was too bewildered from seeing another familiar face to register how dire the situation was at first, "Rebecca?" he mouthed, gaping, then, "Wait, I thought Mai was the only one that was sent...oh god," he breathed. "Something happened to her?"

Rebecca whipped around, finally seeing him, and stuttered, and was never able to get any coherent words out, until Valon asked her if she was certain that she had tried all the frequencies for the tracking device. "Positive, I triple checked. Can't even get static. It's like the thing's been destroyed," she trailed off, biting her lip to keep from tearing up. "The rest of the Trackers are still working on it, but I figured I should inform you, Commander."

"Well, this is new. Those radars are too damn solid to be crushed in a fight. Even dropping them from ten stories up probably wouldn't kill one, I would know. This had to have been deliberate. And Monsters doesn't have that kind of intelligence," Valon thought aloud, " It looks like we have ourselves some competition."

"You're telling me that this is some new addition to The Game?"

"No," he said quickly, rising to head to the armory room, with Joey and Rebecca close behind. "I think that whoever these people are, they are another matter entirely. But they've taken one of my team, and I won't stand for that. They're enemies enough for me."

Joey could already sense the sparks gathering in every point of his being as his emotions raged. He tried to control his fear, watching Valon pick out a rifle and a hand gun, which he tossed to Joey along with a magazine cartridge. How stupid had he been to allow her to participate in this? He was going to find her, bring her back safe, consequences be damned. And then he wasn't ever letting her out of his sight for as long as he remained alive, that much was a positive.

"'Becca, keep up the searching."

The girl saluted him, "I'll do what I can. Please take care of yourselves out there."

The men nodded, leaving her to return to the computer room.

He felt a headset pushed into his hands on their way out and put it on hurriedly.

"Hear me alright?" His voice cracked through the earpiece.

"Fine."

"Good, cause we'll be taking my vehicle out of here, and it's rather loud." Valon warned him, chuckling slightly.

Joey cocked his head, left to wonder what the hell Valon meant by that, until they came to the outside area. Well, it was still covered, but a few buttons pressed, and the sky opened up above them.

"A helicopter? Really?" He whistled, taking in the sight of them, seven or so. Each was glistening silver, with blue accents, and every single one looked new. "What's the point of sending people out on foot if you have one of these babies?"

Valon chided him, "These are emergency only. We don't have the supplies to fuel them, or fix them if they break down. They aren't cheap on the upkeep, Wheeler, and it was hard to obtain them as is. Now, shall we?" He lead the way to a helicopter in the middle, a four-seat. He showed Joey how to buckle himself in and close the hatch door. "Keep the headset on, you'll be sorry if ya don't, mate. Trust me on that."

After that, Joey focused on the whooshing sound of the blades as Valon steered the helicopter away from the base. He scanned the bleak terrain for any sign of her. Maybe he had no idea where to look, but he had to try for Mai's sake. They both did.

* * *

Hopefully this had slightly more action then before? At least it was more suspenseful, I think. I don't know about you guys, though. Guess you'll have to tell me in a review! Until next time!~


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